Sweat and Refill Hydration Relay

Each team has a bottle that stands for the water in its body: the teacher removes water every time the team "sweats," and the team must refill it in a relay from a faraway fountain. It builds endurance and teamwork while teaching why we need to drink water during exercise.

How to play

1. Each team of 5 has a clear 1.5-liter (50 oz) bottle filled to a line (the "hydrated body"). A bucket of water (the fountain) sits 15 m (50 ft) away, with a "sun" cone 5 m beyond it.
2. Each team has 2 cups. Explain that when we exercise we sweat and lose water that we need to replace (2 min).
3. On the signal, the first runner takes an empty cup, circles the sun cone, fills up at the fountain and power walks back to pour it into the bottle.
4. Every 45 seconds, the teacher shouts "We're sweating!" and each team pours one cup out of its bottle onto the ground or into a "sweat" bucket.
5. A normal round lasts 5 minutes; afterwards, check whether the bottle is above the line. Round two is a "hot day": teams lose two cups at each call (5 min).
6. To finish, discuss what is best to drink during exercise, when to drink (before, during and after) and which signs tell us we need water (4 min).

Rules

• Power walk back with a full cup; do not run, so no one slips.
• Fill cups only at the fountain and empty them only into your team's bottle.
• No one drinks from the fountain or the game bottles.
• Always go around the sun cone before reaching the fountain.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student carries water in a wheelchair using a lidded cup.
• Hearing impairment: also give the call by holding up a sign with a sun on it.
• Different fitness levels: anyone who needs it may skip the sun cone on some trips.

Learning goals

• Understand that exercise causes water loss that must be replaced.
• Sustain continuous effort in a team relay.
• Work with a team to reach a shared goal.

Equipment for a class of 25

• recycled bottles: 5
• plastic cups: 10
• buckets: 6
• cones: 10

Teacher tip

Play on a warm day where water will not puddle in the lanes. Afterwards, each student drinks from their own water bottle.

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